In Pemba, a city in northern Mozambique, I was walking alone in 2011 when I was drawn by a pillar of smoke rising from the town. When I arrived I found an orphanage ablaze; a neighbor had attempted to remove the fallen trunk of a baobab tree from his property by setting it alight. Despite the efforts of those present, the fire spread rapidly between the thatched roofs of the compound. Fortunately, no one was hurt, though most of the buildings were destroyed